Plano TX Pain Specialist: Board Certified Dr. Robert J. Nocerini, MD

If you have been experiencing significant pain for an extended period without improvement, it may be time to see a pain specialist, especially if you’ve been seeing your primary care doctor about your pain, to no avail. While primary care doctors can continue to help you manage chronic pain, sometimes a specialist is needed to help you overcome your pain.

Some other signs that you should see a pain specialist include:

• Persistent pain with a specific movement or motion
• Difficulty performing everyday tasks without assistance
• Radiating pain throughout a limb, especially when tingling or numbness is also present
• Sleep interruptions due to your pain
• Over-the-counter (OTC) medication is no longer effective, or you find yourself relying too heavily on OTC medication
• Lost ability to participate in hobbies and activities you love

Severe pain can sometimes feel unbearable, and therefore, feel nearly impossible to deal with in beneficial ways. Such pain may occur after a serious injury, or it may be connected to a chronic condition. With a serious injury, powerful pain relievers are often needed immediately to reduce your pain and allow doctors to treat the injury effectively. However, with severe chronic pain, pain medication can only go so far, and you often need the help of a specialist to establish a robust treatment plan for minimizing your pain.

In addition to consulting a pain specialist for severe pain, there are also ways you can try to establish healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with severe pain. Some helpful coping strategies include:

• Eat well and get as much sleep as you can to manage stress so you can cope with your pain more effectively
• Encouraging yourself with improvements you’re making each day
• Staying as active and engaged as you can to distract yourself from the pain
• Finding support groups who can share and understand the highs and lows of dealing with chronic pain

In general, pain is triggered by your nervous system telling you something is wrong, usually due to tissue damage. However, there are times when your nervous system can mistakenly send pain signals even when there is no tissue damage present. With that in mind, many factors can trigger pain. Acute pain is commonly triggered by an injury, infection, or illness and can be dealt with quickly through appropriate treatment measures. Determining the trigger of chronic pain can be more difficult, as there is not always a clear diagnosis or understanding of the underlying cause of chronic pain. In that light, some triggers of chronic pain may include:

• Congenital abnormalities
• Extra weight puts increased strain on joints
• Wearing high heels or improperly fitted shoes
• Prolonged poor posture
• Suboptimal sleeping positions or sleeping on an uncomfortable mattress
• Normal wear and tear as you age
• Autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis
• Conditions with an unclear cause, such as fibromyalgia
• Neurological conditions like peripheral neuropathy

Pain specialists can help with chronic pain by establishing a robust treatment plan for you after consulting with you about your pain symptoms, diagnosed conditions, and how they affect your daily life. This robust treatment plan may involve medication, procedures, and therapies as:

• Anti-inflammatory injections or nerve blocks
• Procedures like viscosupplementation or spinal cord stimulation
• Stretching exercises and physical therapy
• Counseling or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Pain-relieving medications for short-term pain relief

In general, pain specialists take an integrative approach to help patients overcome chronic pain. As such, they seek to treat your whole person rather than only focusing on your symptoms and reducing pain. To do so, they examine the underlying causes of your pain, address your pain in constructive ways, and ensure your mental and emotional wellness are taken care of in the process.

If you’re looking for a pain specialist in Plano, Texas, we can help at Northstar Joint and Spine! Our pain management physician has extensive experience and expertise providing pain management solutions to countless patients. Learn more about our services or book an appointment with us through our website or by calling us today! We look forward to serving you! We serve patients from Plano TX, McKinney TX, Richardson TX, Frisco TX, Allen TX, Addison TX, and Carrollton TX.